Bath, NC

Last week we had the opportunity to visit a little bit of the towns of Washington and Bath, NC.  Due to uncontrollable circumstances, we didn't do much of the historic walking tour in Washington, but we did get to see the original church (and maybe one of the oldest in NC) in Bath. It's still being used as an Episcopal church, and the original building has not had any additions, though there are buildings around it that belong to the church. The church is open for tours (which means you walk in and look around). It was fascinating.

These pew cushions reminded me of the church I grew up in.
One long red cushion that runs the length of the entire pew, and is not attached.

I've only seen glass bookcases in old churches. Here it was used to store Bibles and hymnbooks.
Beside, hanging off the window sill, was a basket holding coloring books and crayons for kids.

The view from the front of the church. The original building of New Bethel Baptist Church here in Garner had a balcony. Prior to the civil war, it was where the slaves sat during church time. 

Love the stone floor. It was quite level. Most stone pavements aren't, making it difficult on wheelchairs.

and the balcony steps. I'm always amazed at how narrow staircases from the 1800s are.
In today's buildings, steps would be twice that width.

View from the back of the church

Instead of having wooden pockets on the back (similar to the one holding the offering envelope) for hymnbooks, these pews had a shelf underneath as a place for hymnbooks. I think I like this a little better than on the back of the pew.

The estuary in Washington and the Visitor's Center in Bath both had quilts that their local guilds had made that I would have loved to photograph, but both were in areas of the museum where you couldn't take pictures. Washington's was made in the Window Pane pattern, but inside each pane was an appliqued animal that you would see in the estuary. They did an outstanding job. In Bath, the centerpiece was patchwork but the outer borders had large appliques of women working, showing the history of the town. It was fascinating. Bath also had information on Edward Teach (aka Blackbeard the Pirate), and Bobby shared even more history about him on the way home that was horrifying. We didn't make it to the town of Auroro, but hope to go back sometime with my sister and brother-in-law.  I'm thinking the person who wrote our "Day Trips from Raleigh" guide book moves at a much faster pace than we do.

small town advantage

I didn't have a youth group growing up. For some reason they all decided to graduate from high school and move on with their lives instead of hanging around for another five-ten years waiting for me to get there.
Church activities meant helping Mom in the kitchen, playing with little kids, or listening to old people talk. It also meant I got to help with a lot of cool and fun things, such as craft preparations for the annual bazaar sale at the mall, VBS set up and clean-up, folding bulletins for Dad, bulletin board set-up, and the list goes on....
I think that's why it puzzles me when people say I'm crafty or talented. When I think of talented I think of Michelle Sappington who takes an empty piece of paper and makes it into a beautiful card with scissors and more paper. Her designs are snazzy and mine...well, they're just a bunch of lines.
I think of Dave Mincy, who can look at one note and a letter on a piece of paper and string all the right notes together in a beautiful way. Or else, he'll stop and say, "That's not the chord I want. Let's change it to this." My piano playing will forever sound "Bong, bomp, bomp. Bong, bomp, bomp." in the old fashioned octave-chord-chord method my teachers taught.
I was exposed/required/forced to do a lot of things growing up. I watched ladies who had money to buy whatever they wanted at the grocery store and never use coupons slowly scan the aisles of the Alabama Thrift Store in search of both clothes and knick-knacks to use in projects. A bag of buttons from the Arrow Shirt Factory for 25 cents? Done. That lacy angel given as a gift from someone in their travel group? A pattern. Our first job that ladies night? Wire buttons together to create an angel, a star, or wreath for ornaments to sell. I quickly learned some ladies have unique ideas and inspirations, and the rest of us can simply do by mimicking.
Being the preacher's kid meant staying until EVERYONE left church after every service. I watched old ladies arrange, clean and re-arrange flower arrangements at the front. I'll never have the knack for color they had, and my sense of style will not match everyone else's, but I did learn a few basics in between all my exasperated sighing and whining about being hungry and asking if we could go. Along the way I've also learned there's not much you can't read up on at the library, and now there's a whole world of virtual instruction on youtube. Not everything I attempt is going to turn out right, or pretty, or presentable. But if I don't try I'll never know.
Growing up in a small town with a bunch of old people who grew up during the depression taught me some of that...doing things isn't always a matter of talent. It's more often than not a matter of necessity and the stupidity/willingness to try.

where I come from

I'm not actually from Townley (where the above picture was taken). My hometown of Cordova, AL is actually several steps above Townley sporting two banks, a small grocery store, two drugstores, a post office, a video store, and several gas stations (Townley only has a part-time post office, and is where my father currently pastors). But like Townley, Cordova suffers from the past. In the early '60s, like many other places across America, the cotton mills closed their gates and went overseas. Unable to find work, many moved away. Others joined the coal mines. In the late '80s the coal mines began drastically cutting back (and it always seemed they did it at Christmas time). I'm not going to rehash the age old debate of whether the mines were only seeking profit or if the miners and the union's constant strikes and demands brought it about, but the reality is - it happened. Again, people moved away in search of means to support their families.

The above picture is of Main St in Cordova taken in 1993, where most of the stores are located. Every Thursday evening the road is shut down, for the most important reason:

the Cordova Blue Devils football team

The band plays and marches down main street, then the players salter down the street, followed by a 10-20 minute pep rally. If you've ever seen the movie Friday Night Lights, then you get an idea of what my hometown is like.

According to the 2000 census, Cordova has a population of 2, 423 people. And for these 2,423 people, there are ten churches within the city limits, and almost as many immediately outside the city limits. Most everyone considers themselves a "Christian" because they like to think of themselves as good, but not because they know Christ, follow his teachings, or attend church.

WHY am I telling you all this? Because my small town upbringing solidifies a lot of who I am today. I work in a job where things are supposed to be perfect, the smallest mistake must immediately be corrected, and cost, while important, is not to be the final factor. It is a major factor, but almost never the ultimate one. Appearance is everything. And that is such a far cry from who I am and how I was raised. (and yes, I was raised, not reared...) I cringe inside at all the waste, ponder the frivolous lifestyle of people who have no concept of limited resources, and often miss the simplicity of how things "were back when".

And while people do throw out their trash in AL just like people do here (thankfully Bryan Rd has FINALLY been cleaned up once again), at least people have a sense of humor about it back home, as is displayed by the above photo.

:O)

I feel no shame; I'm proud of where I came from;
I was born and raised in the boondocks.
One thing I know, no matter where I go,
I keep my heart and soul in the boondocks.

And I can feel that muddy water runnin' through my veins;
And I can hear that lullaby of the midnight trains.
And it seems to me that it's so familiar...
~ Little Big Town's "Boondocks"

crazy lists

Things I hated about living in a small town:

1. Everybody knew your business (or at least tried to!).
2. Everybody knew your parents and their livelihood and never hesitated to remind you of it.
3. The world revolves around the local football team.
4. There was very little to do.
5. Jobs were hard to find.
6. You had to drive forever to go shopping.
7. Teachers always told you how advanced students from everywhere else were.
8. People who go to college don't come back.
9. The "You ain't from around here, are ya?" mentality.
10. 1/2 the girls in my high school senior class were engaged by graduation

Things I miss about living in a small town:

1. the closeness of a tight-knit community.
2. there's little to unite the city (subdivision homeowner associations don't count)
3. small government (it's your property..who cares if you put up a shed, etc)
4. the "traffic"
5. no shame in working menial jobs
6. EVERYONE kept quiet and still during the national anthem (or someone made them)
7. simple craft "bizarres"
8. it's easy to find your way around
9. having next door neighbors
10. community sledding on main street when it snowed and other crazy traditions